apple

Violent comic book doesn't meet Apple's standards

Apple recently took an axe to Murderdrome, an electronic comic book in its App Store that the company deemed too violent.

Murderdrome, created by the United Kingdom-based Infuriouscomics, had been created especially for the iPhone. Apple turned down Infuriouscomics' application to put the comic in the App Store.

"This is due to the part of the SDK that suggests content must not offend anyone in 'Apple's reasonable' opinion," a post on the Infurious blog read. "Here at Infurious, we would love to work with Apple to ensure a content-rating system can be put in place to … Read more

Top 5 iPod features you'll never see

All signs point to a new crop of iPods in September, and while I'm as interested in the rumors and blurry "leaked" photos as the next fanboy, I'm also preparing myself for disappointment. Deep down, I know there are iPod features that will never see the light of day. Sure, Apple always trots out a few iPod-related surprises like iTunes movie rentals and Cover Flow, but I've all but given up on the following innovations.

1. Subscription music

If the rumors are right, I'll be chewing my toes on this one, but I just … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 796: Is that an HTC Dream in your pocket?

In today's show, we're introduced to the concept of the "banana phone" (complete with drawings), China tells GoDaddy to Go Away, a Scottish bank sends a computer into the eBay abyss full of customer data, and Apple's latest iPhone firmware shuts down copy-and-paste. As expected, Molly blows her stack. Like, a couple times. It's crazy. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 796

Apple event for September 9 http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/08/25/rumor-apple-event-for-september-9th

Network notary system thwarts man-in-the-middle attacks http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080826-network-notary-system-thwarts-man-in-the-middle-attacks.html http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/New-Firefox-Extension-Thwarts-MITM-Attacks-97239… Read more

Psystar responds to Apple suit, will countersue

PALO ALTO, Calif.--Mac clone maker Psystar plans to file its answer to Apple's copyright infringement lawsuit Tuesday as well as a countersuit of its own, alleging that Apple engages in anticompetitive business practices.

Miami-based Psystar, owned by Rudy Pedraza, will sue Apple under two federal laws designed to discourage monopolies and cartels, the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act, saying Apple's tying of the Mac OS to Apple-labeled hardware is "an anticompetitive restrain of trade," according to attorney Colby Springer of antitrust specialists Carr & Ferrell. Psystar is requesting that the court find … Read more

'Tetris'-like iPhone app to be pulled

A young software developer has decided to pull his iPhone game from Apple's App Store because it was too similar to the classic arcade game Tetris.

Noah Witherspoon, a college student in Atlanta, created a free game called Tris for Apple's handset platform. But Apple recently contacted Witherspoon to let him know that the Tetris Company, which licenses the eponymous video game, had notified it about copyright and trademark infringement claims against the app.

Witherspoon wrote on his blog that he has chosen not to take the matter to court and will pull the game on Wednesday. "… Read more

AT&T expands iPhone international data plans

AT&T announced Tuesday it's expanding its iPhone international data plans, in a move designed to cut consumers' reliance on pay-per-use data services.

Under the expansion, which is slated to begin Wednesday, iPhone users can add one of two international plans to their existing service.

The 100MB iPhone plan will cost an additional monthly fee of $119.99, while the 200MB plan will run an additional $199.99 a month. Both plans can be added or dropped from users' existing plans at any time, without penalty.

On a pay-per-use data basis, users could pay as much as 0.… Read more

Apple to open up for the enterprise?

While on vacation in San Francisco last week, my family and I happened to stop by the Apple Store in Union Square. The buzz within was overwhelming--foreign tourists looking for cheap iPods, college students grabbing MacBooks, and business folks lining up for the 3G iPhones.

All of this activity isn't lost on large organizations. It seems that Apple is sitting pretty, ready for a backdoor entrance into the enterprise market with Macs and iPhones over the next few years.

The market certainly appears headed in this direction, but ironically, Apple may be its own worst enemy. Why? With its … Read more

Apple ready to rumble on September 9?

Several blogs ( see Techmeme) are reporting that Apple will roll out new products on September 9. As previously rumored, starting with missive from Digg's Kevin Rose, Apple may be revamping the iPod Nano and tweaking the iPod Touch with new software, as well delivering iTunes 8.0 with a recommendation engine and selective price cuts.

Per usual with the cone of silence that encapsulates Steve Jobs and the Apple troops surrounding new product announcements, it's uncertain what will actually be unveiled next month.

However, from various sources CNET News is hearing that Apple is gearing up its engine … Read more

Apple shuts OpenClip: No more copy-and-paste

Well, that didn't take long. As soon as people started to get excited about open-source OpenClip, and its ability to bring copy-and-paste functionality to the iPhone, Apple found a way to shut it down with its 2.1 firmware.

Of course, OpenClip is open source, and perhaps enterprising developers will find a way around the 2.1 firmware. Or maybe (gasp!) Apple will actually deliver the copy-and-paste functionality many have demanded.

But for now, its ClosedClip, not OpenClip. Even communities must apparently bow to Apple. Code is law, to borrow Larry Lessig's phrase, and Apple controls the iPhone … Read more